T&T PM says former minister encouraging people “to harass and threaten me”
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley Saturday described the behavior of a former government minister as “dangerous and reckless” after he allegedly made public his telephone number “and encouraged and incited persons to harass and threaten me”.
In a statement, Rowley said that Devant Magaraj, who served as a minister in the former People’s Partnership administration headed by Kamla Persad Bissessar, had also published the telephone number on the social media.
Maliciously published phone number
He said that Maharaj had obtained the telephone number on Friday “and has maliciously published it in the widest possible way on social media and further he has encouraged and incited persons to harass and threaten me.
Rowley in his statement titled “To all the decent right thinking people of Trinidad and Tobago,” said as a result “of this act of gross misconduct and in my desire to serve you in a sane and sober manner I regret that I will be discontinuing the use of the number that you might have known and used at some time in the past.
Rowley said he trusts that Trinidad and Tobago “never becomes so barren that there is an absence of leadership in all quarters, especially the political arena, where rogue elements who try to drag us down to their base levels can be roundly condemned,” adding “I so do”
“All-time low”
Earlier, National Security and Minister of Communication, Stuart Young, in a separate statement, said that the publication by Maharaj of the personal contact information of Prime Minister Rowley “is an all-time low and worthy of criminal investigation.
“He has continued inciting people to use the Prime Minister’s information to, at a minimum, harass the Prime Minister and at a maximum, expose him to harm,” Young said, adding that Maharaj has been engaging in “despicable and dangerous behavior for some time now.”
Maharaj makes no apology
But in response Maharaj told a local television station “I make no apologies whatsoever for giving out the Prime Minister’s cell number because his government is so out of touch with the harsh and raw reality and the pain and suffering of the public that communication from them will give him a much needed dose of reality.”
